Send this to a friend

A worker removes rebar from the wall remnants of the former Home Quarters store in Norwood, the possible future home of car retailer CarMax.

Jennifer Lefferts

Used car retailer CarMax (NYSE: KMX) is driving ahead with plans for a superstore along the Automile, the cluster of automobile dealerships on a stretch of Route 1 in Norwood.

The Richmond, Va.-based company bought the 23.5-acre site, formerly a Home Quarters Warehouse, last year for $20 million. The 135,000-square-foot building has been demolished to make way for a new 45,000-square-foot CarMax showroom. But the company appears to be in no hurry to enter the competitive car market that boasts dozens of dealers selling almost every make of car.

Michelle Ellwood, a CarMax spokeswoman, said while Norwood has been identified as an area for potential growth, a new store there is not on its 12-month plan and she did not know when construction will begin at 205 Carnegie Way.

“Even though we own property, once we decide to move forward, it can take still one to three years to get all the approvals, build the store and open,” Ellwood said. “So there’s nothing planned for the immediate future, but we have identified this as an area that would fit into our growth plan.”

CarMax, which calls itself the nation’s largest retailer of used cars, opened its first store in Virginia in 1993 and now has more than 100 stores across the country. It has one other Massachusetts location in North Attleboro. The retailer is coming to one of the most competitive regions of the Bay State on the Automile, where used and new car dealerships line both sides of the highway. They range from major showrooms with multiple locations like Boch Automotive Dealerships, Clay Family Dealerships and Bezema Motors, to small one-store lots.

Dealers in the area are giving CarMax the proverbial “come on down” to the area.

“I think it’s fantastic that they’re coming, they are a good company,” said Ernie Boch Jr., president of Boch Enterprises. “There’s an old saying: ‘Fish where the fish are.’ This is a big national company coming to the Automile for the first time selling vehicles. They will bring traffic and shoppers to us. I do welcome them with open arms. Everyone will sell more cars with them here. Anytime you see a McDonald’s, there’s a Burger King. Competition brings customers to the area and that helps everyone. It’s a formula for success.”

Michael Kintner, sales manager for Jack Madden Ford Sales, agrees. He said the CarMax name will likely draw people to the Automile. And once there, they may decide to shop elsewhere.

“The more the merrier,” he said. “It’s better for everybody. Typically, that kind of business will bring more business to us. If people come to the Automile and shop there, there’s likely to be some spillover.”

CarMax is known for its no-haggle prices, with the price displayed on the vehicle the price customers pay, Ellwood said. CarMax has 35,000 cars online at carmax.com and most can be transferred to a customer’s closest store location.

While Ellwood said there is no guarantee that the former home improvement site will become a CarMax, Norwood officials expect the project to move forward.

Thomas Grillo contributed to this article.

Related links:

Comments

If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.